Carrie Underwood On Motherhood, Panic Attacks, And Being Awkward

Carrie Underwood says she’s just not ready to be a mother yet. In a recent interview that will be published in the June issue of Marie Claire, the the 30-year-old country star opened up about her life, career, and plans for the future. Which, for the time being at least, don’t include motherhood.

“I don’t feel old enough to have kids,” she explains. “I know I am mature. But being responsible for another human?”

And who can blame her. The Oklahoma native’s rise to stardom began in 2005, after winning the fourth season of American Idol, and she’s been busy recording and touring ever since. She’s released four albums, had 16 Number One singles, five GRAMMYs, and a dizzying number of other awards from the Academy of Country Music and other organizations. Her latest album Blown Away is considered her most ambitious project yet.

Fellow country star Brad Paisley sums up her talent pretty simply in the magazine profile. “She’s the best female singer we’ve had in our format maybe ever.”

But the beginnings of fame weren’t easy for Carrie. She goes on to say that she used to have panic attacks, and that all the attention was hard to process. “People were touching me, screaming – it made me really nervous.”

People who know her say Carrie has never been very outgoing. Even her own mother agrees. “She was never really a people person. She liked being outside with animals.”

Carrie admits that opening up to others isn’t her strong suit. “I’m probably not great at talking or understanding emotional things. I’ll totally listen. But I won’t have a lot of advice to give. I’m bad at calling to check in, the long conversation. But in the ways that really matter, I’m there. I would donate a kidney.”

Her husband Mike Fisher, a center for the Nashville Predators hockey team, whom she married in 2010, calls her ” the queen of awkward moments.” But he also admires her honesty, “she doesn’t know how to hide her feelings.” And Carrie describes her hubby as “Mr. Nicest Guy on the Planet.”